Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening released a video in which he made a statement regarding the talks to reach a deal for the release of the hostages in Gaza.
"There is a lot of noise in the media about the efforts to get more hostages released, so I want to make it clear: We are working on another plan for the release of our hostages, but I stress: Not at any cost," Netanyahu said.
He added, "I have red lines, among them: We will not end the war, we will not remove the IDF from the Strip, and we will not release thousands of terrorists."
"We are constantly working to free our hostages and to achieve the other goals of the war: The elimination of Hamas and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat. We are working on all three together and we will not give up on any of them," Netanyahu said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu met with representatives of 18 families of hostages, for a highly charged meeting, in which he pledged to promote a deal, regardless of coalition considerations, Channel 12 reported.
According to the report, the families demanded that the Prime Minister accept a deal even at the expense of dismantling his coalition.
The Prime Minister replied to them: "If there is a deal that is good for Israel, for the return of the hostages and the realization of the goals of the war – I will do it…But if I think that the situation endangers Israel's security or does not achieve the goals that we want – I won't do it."
The families also asked Netanyahu that the additional deal would not be done in stages like last time.
The Prime Minister did not go into details and said that "the return of the hostages must be carried out in stages, as part of any deal".